Professor of Fear
by NightcatMau
Summary: Ever feel like driving a tank over Valduggery? Then you'll love this When Val can take no more of Skulduggery's issues she's befriended by Scarecrow and a romance But some skeletons can't take no for an answer, so the Scarecrow takesSome light Jervis x Al


A/N: I don't own Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Darquesse, Scarecrow, Alice, or Mad Hatter. Val is in her 20s.

* * *

Skulduggery didn't want to believe it was over, but it was. Valkyrie had given him back his ring, telling him she'd found somebody else when she'd visited Arkham, somebody better, that cared for her in ways he never could. And although he knew he shouldn't, he began to follow her, obsessive in his need to reclaim the woman he loved.

The problem was, her new lover was much more than a skeleton in a suit. He was a genius. And he dealt in fear. Skulduggery didn't even see him until it was too late. He'd been crossing the Sanctuary lawn to get a file on a new case when a figure stepped out of the shadows. Skulduggery could make out a tall man with eyes that seemed to glow like white lights. "I've come to assure you that Valkyrie is most happy with me. If you persist in bothering her I shall have to stop you." The voice was eerie, otherworldly and as the man stepped out into the moonlight Skulduggery gasped.

The man was tall, dressed all in black with a flowing long coat and black hat. But the face! He looked like a rotted corpse cut down from the gallows and a noose hung from his neck. "Perhaps a little demonstration of my abilities to protect her would convince you." The man went on in the same eerie whispery voice. "Very well, if you insist." The man took out a skull, it looked real and Skulduggery was sure this was a nightmare, then the gas poured from the skull and he was trapped in his worst nightmares.

Nightmares where he was isolated and alone, nightmares where over and over the tragedies of his life played out. He was trapped in them and didn't even see the man come up and strike him with a staff. The Scarecrow grinned down and the inert skeleton and left.

* * *

Skulduggery came to in the infirmary. How could she be with that- That monster? He was a lunatic, a criminal. This had to be a terrible mistake, a terrible mistake. He'd wake up soon, he was sure of it. Only he wasn't waking up, he kept looping though the same nightmare as he was lying on a Sanctuary bed. A scientist from America, Jervis Tetch, was watching him carefully, his blond assistant beside him. "Most unfortunate, is it not, my sweet Alice? Still I favor Scarecrow in all this, don't you?" He asked and the girl nodded then smiled.

"Still, seems a pity to let it go on for too long. Perhaps we can convince our friend to lift his toxin's effects. Most interesting that magic can do nothing for him, most interesting." The couple walked out, Jervis consulting with various doctors. If the Sanctuary had any idea the mild-mannered scientist was really the Mad Hatter they gave no indication.

Jerivs of course favored Scarecrow since it had been so very hard to win his sweet Alice and from what the fools at the Sanctuary had told him this skeleton wasn't very good to the lovely Miss Cain. They fought and that simply wouldn't do. No, no, he was with Scarecrow on this one most definitely. After all he knew what it was like to be judged for his looks. To be seen as less of a man because he was a scientist he wished his friend well and only hoped he'd lift the effect of the toxin as a sort of experiment. Most interesting.

* * *

Valkyrie was meeting with Scarecrow in his labratory. She still remembered encountering him in Arkham. But he'd been more interested in her magical abilities than frightening her. So interested that she found herself confiding in the gifted scientist. He had after all saved her life when some masked lunatic in a cape had been after her. Distraught over having had yet another fight with Skulduggery she'd forgotten her magic and ran, but then he'd been there, coming out of the night as if he were made out of it. He'd looked at her, saw her fear of her attacker and blinked his glowing eyes slowly. "A most fascinating effect of fear. This warrants further study, but first I have a rabid bat to take care of, my dear."

He'd fought the man dressed as a bat, using a staff and a fighting style she'd never seen before. As he fought she watched him. Was that a mask or his real face? It looked real, like a rotted corpse. But there was intelligence in the eyes and he kept himself between her and the lunatic. Still as good as he was the man suddenly hit him with a series of combos and rage flooded Valkyrie. She remembered her magic and lashed out with her shadows, knocking the man out cold.

Her rescuer had stood up and came over to tower over her. For a moment she thought he'd attack, but he leaned down and helped her up. "You helped me. Don't you realize who I am?"

"No, I'm not from here."

"Indeed. Very well, let me make introductions. I am the Scarecrow. I deal in fear. I should be scaring you right now, using my toxins on you but you- You fascinate me. That wasted heap of humanity does not matter. But tell me, why did you fear him? You're obviously an experienced warrior."

Then she told him the whole story. Of Skulduggery, of going for a walk, of finding a bit of straw she'd chewed on to think and he'd looked as horrified as was possible for him to be. "My straws, my special weapons. You're lucky you're not dead. I'm usually not so careless. Still, come with me and I'll attend to you, my dear."

And he had. She'd never seen him without the mask and she was starting to think it wasn't a mask, but it didn't matter. He was a bit aloof, dark, sometimes brooding, but he lit up and stopped whatever experiment he was doing in the lab he'd set up in the mansion whenever he saw her.

Now she found him hard at work with Jervis, who was dressed in his usual blue mad hatter outfit and top hat that he felt free to wear in the mansion and she didn't mind. She sort of liked the idea that they both had dark sides like she had Darquesse. Alice hugged her in greeting. Scarecrow seemed to smile. "So, my dear, it would seem the skeleton you spurned for me does not give up so easily, and he is still suffering the effects of my toxin. I designed it especially for him. Only when he will be willing to admit you are now mine will the effects stop. He should not have hurt you, that made me angry."

Jervis smiled nervously. Valkyrie already knew that if Scarecrow went off in a rage he could do anything so she appealed to the scientist in him. "Hatter said you'd be able to lift it to see the after effect. I'd love to see you do it. As an experiment." And it was truthful, she would.

"Ah, I knew there was a scientific soul in there somewhere. Very well, Valkyrie. I will lift the effects and the fallout should be most amusing. Because you are mine, and mine alone." He whispered as he approached and Valkyrie happily melted into his arms.

* * *

**Scarecrow is based on several versions, with his darkest look yet older weapons like his skull and straws. Mad Hatter is pretty much the sweetheart from BTAS. Jervis is a sweetheart and deserves his Alice, so there!**


End file.
